Economics is the study of scarcity and the relationship of supply and demand. The opposite of scarcity is abundance.
The theory of “post scarcity,” or abundance, is largely a futuristic vision of a world where the cost to create is zero and the access to the means of creation is in ample supply.
In the “Social Media” world there is an abundance of supply. The cost to create in this world is reduced everyday with new introductions of blogging software that makes it easier to publish, widgets making it easier to spread ideas, and websites created with templates or pagecreators. One can use Rent A Coder or Odesk to find a developer to work for below minimum wage. In Technorati‘s most recent “State Of The Blogosphere” they stated that 122 million blogs have been created since 2002.
There are numerous social networks like Myspace, Facebook, and Bebo with hundreds of millions of profiles. We even have social networks inside of social networks with Facebook and Myspace Apps like “Favorite Friends” and groups. Then we have social networks for segments of people and things like older folks (Eons) and Dogs (Dogster). We even have free software to create any social network for any concern or group with Ning. Even at work we have social networks and media with LinkedIn, and Yammer. When I am off work I’ll switch to Twitter to see who just farted, or had a hot dog, or read a good book. There are social networks in blog comments corralled by companies like Intense Debate. Last, we have social networks for our social networks with SocialThing, FriendFeed, Profilactic, and others.
Being social online is inescapable. My Blackberry tells me my location and my friends’ location with Google Latitude. If I want someone to know what I am doing at that location I’ll use Brightkite or Loopt. I’ll leave a review for later with Yelp.
I can subscribe to just about any stream of information’s RSS feed or create my own with Dapper if an RSS feed isn’t readily available. More Ovaltine information, please!
It is endless.
We are living in a post scarcity world when it comes to social media. What all the makers of social media aspire for, that which is very scarce, is our attention.
We are told by the personal branding gurus, and I mean no disprespect to people like Gary Vaynerchuk and company, that we should use them all to extend our personal or company brand. Place our avatar on every new social site. Lock up our login name wherever we are so our online presence is continuous (mine is jpmorgan wherever possible). If this takes place, the inevitable erosion of our productive time is predictable. Even social aggregators like Friendfeed display too much information coming from too many sources and still don’t have ALL of my social networking allegiances covered. It isn’t my one stop shop. My attention is still scarce. I don’t even know if I want a one stop shop. I enjoy the experiences of several different sites and find it worth some extra time to float from site to site. My bookmarks are my method of grouping and segmenting.
Following this line of thought, I draw two conclusions:
1) The inevitability of “free” media
2) The eventual consolidation of social presence
Number one needs no explanation as the meme on “free” is well documented. Low cost of production and barriers of entry lead to increased competition and substitutes. When this happens with great scale, prices are squeezed to near free or what might be considered relatively free.
My belief in the eventual consolidation of social presence is, I believe, destined to happen. Why? I believe that personal branding is, more or less, a fad that will be carried out by very few people who execute a personal branding strategy well. Few people will do so because of their scarcity of attention in keeping track of all forms of media. For example, Seth Godin is one of the most respected marketers of our time. He is a champion of the internet. Yet, he does not use Twitter. He doesn’t even have blog comments. His simple mission is to write “remarkable” things on his blog so his ideas spread.
Seth Godin is a marketer. Gary Vaynerchuk is a salesman. There is a difference. A salesman will sell anything to anyone at anytime. A marketer has a specific product for a specific customer who purchases it at a preconceived time and location.
I believe that people will be forced to become smarter and more productive with their time. They will become marketers and not salesman/woman. They will come to know exactly what their product is and exactly who their customer is out of necessity. One can still be successful being a salesperson, but my feeling is that most people do not have the stamina/fortitude/ability to do so and therefore are smarter to plan, target, and attack.
Note: I may be mischaracterizing Gary’s position and if so, that is not intended.
